Language Arts
- continuing to read fables and folktales to illustrate good character and principles
- label basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and learn about abbreviations/contractions as well as antonyms/synonyms
- be able to identify continents, some large countries and major cities, a few oceans, rivers, or other bodies of water, and some major mountain ranges
- have some understanding of ancient world history and the discoveries of important civilizations (Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, China, Africa...)
- early American history - basically any and everything -- from the natives to the first explorers, colonists, Western pioneers, and up to the Revolutionary War -- in which they are interested
- as much hands-on experience as possible -- take kids to see performances or put on some ourselves, listen to poetry read aloud, see and discuss artwork and architecture
- introduction to different instruments and how they are classified into groups
- anything about the parts of a song, how plays are written, mediums of visual arts, etc.
- practice, practice, practice, in fun and useful ways
- memorization of basic addition and subtraction tables, skip counting, evens/odds, Roman numeral introduction, adding and subtracting time on an analog clock, learn HOW to +/- 3-digit numbers, and begin memorizing multiplication tables
- always practicing geometry, money, measurements, fractions, and word problems
- human body - cells into tissue into organs into systems
- life cycles of animals/plants and how they relate to the seasons
- lots of hands-on experience with animals, plants, and nature
- biographies of important zoologists, animal activists, doctors, etc.
- the products of chemistry such as plastics, hands-on simple chem experiments
- how meteorologists gather data, how weather systems form
- the history of astronomy and how stars can be used to find direction, and how/why the sky changes with the seasons
- the behavior of light and sound, other physics basics
- simple machines, introduction to basic engineering and technology
- more awareness of the Scientific Method in everyday play
- biographies of important scientists
Wow. Second grade has really changed in the last 25 years. (Or perhaps I just didn't pay attention.) Ancient world history? Meteorology? Basic engineering?
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonder I know anything at all...I'm sure Tex will be way smarter than me by the time this year is done.
Well, like I said, most of it is just a glancing acquaintance that will be further developed at a later age. If you think about it, you probably studied ancient Egypt somewhere around this age, looked at the pyramids and sphinx and heiroglyphics, read about mummies, etc. I think I was doing that by about age 8. I think... In any case it's all about the interconnectedness, and realizing that some of the things they take for granted were not always just "there", which is why the Babylonians come in with their written language, Greece and Rome with their technology, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd engineering is just structure and function, whether it's building with blocks, or the clay dinosaurs Tex has been trying to make lately with aluminum foil "skeletons" (and now about to move to wire to see if it's sturdier), or a Lincoln Log village, or even playing Jenga. It's one of those things children learn naturally if they have the freedom and time to explore the concepts on their own, and the fact that it all falls under the heading of Engineering just makes it easier for adults to explain to each other. Sort of.
Kinda like a Montessori education w/o the Montessori price.
ReplyDeleteLOL. Yeah, if we're lucky. ;-)
ReplyDelete